Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden has big cash advantage over Trump in race's final stretch

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign entered the final stretch of the race with a large cash advantage over President Donald Trump, disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission showed on Tuesday. The former vice president's campaign outraised and outspent Trump's re-election effort in September, with Biden's political ads now much more prevalent on American television.

Late night shooting in Houston club kills three, fourth critical

A late night shooting at a midtown club in the Texas city of Houston killed three men and injured a fourth critically, the police said, just hours after another incident in which a police officer was killed with shots to the head. On Twitter, police said the injured man was taken to hospital after the nighttime attack at the 2100 block of the city's Chenevert Street, but they did not immediately release further details or respond to requests for comments.

Republicans running short on time and money to defend Senate majority

Republicans are running short of time, money and options to stop Democrats from winning a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate, and with them full control of Congress, in an election that is now only two weeks away. President Donald Trump's slide in opinion polls is weighing on Senate Republicans in 10 competitive races, while Democrats are playing defense over two seats, increasing the odds of Trump's Republicans losing their 53-47 majority on Nov. 3.

United Airlines testing global health app on UK-U.S. flight in effort to reopen borders

United Airlines is set on Wednesday to test a digital health pass under a global pilot program seeking to establish a common international standard for COVID-19 test results and eventually vaccine records that could help reopen borders. The nonprofit initiative, called CommonPass, is backed by the World Economic Forum and Swiss-based foundation The Commons Project. If successful, it could persuade governments to ease the restrictions and quarantines that have slammed air travel since the coronavirus starting spreading across the globe.

Morgan Stanley unveils scholarship fund for Black colleges

Morgan Stanley said on Wednesday it will cover college expenses for 60 students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the banking industry's latest attempt to address racial injustice after the death of George Floyd. The Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars program will fund the entire cost of attending Howard University, Morehouse College or Spelman College for students in any field of study. The bank has committed to spending $12 million on the program over four years.

COVID-19: U.S. Northeast states discourage travel; California rebuffs theme parks

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Tuesday urged their residents to not travel between the three states as the U.S. Northeast sees a rise in COVID-19 cases, while California said major theme parks including Disneyland would not be opening anytime soon. The moves in two of the most populous regions of the United States came during a new surge in coronavirus infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 300,000 more people had died nationwide in 2020 than in a typical year.

Congress presses DOJ to improve jail reporting system after Reuters report

Congressional leaders are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to strengthen its tracking of deaths in local jails following a Reuters investigation that identified thousands of inmate fatalities and spurred criticism from human rights groups. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said fixing the DOJ's broken system for tracking inmate deaths "is critical to identifying problems in particular jails that must be addressed."

Battle over coronavirus relief intensifies ahead of U.S. election

The battle over a hefty, new U.S. coronavirus aid bill was set to spill into Wednesday as the White House and Democrats try to strike a deal before the Nov. 3 presidential and congressional elections, now with the encouragement of President Donald Trump. Plenty of hurdles remained, however, not the least of which was the overall price tag of a bill that could be in the range of $2.2 trillion, the number Democrats had been pushing for months.

These voters sat out in 2016. Now they could determine the next U.S. president

Iowa resident LeAnne Putman-Thomas has watched her country pursue wars, endure recessions and elect its first Black president. Yet the 53-year-old never felt compelled to vote. That changed this month, when she went to an early voting center to cast a ballot for Democrat Joe Biden - or, more accurately, to vote out Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

After keeping low profile on campaign trail, Obama makes debut for Biden

Former U.S. President Barack Obama will make his first appearance on the campaign trail on Wednesday for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who is locked in a tight race with President Donald Trump in crucial states 13 days before the Nov. 3 election. Obama, who served eight years in office with Biden as his vice president, will urge supporters to vote early for Biden and other Democratic candidates in the general election at an outdoor drive-in rally in Pennsylvania's biggest city, Philadelphia, an aide to the former president said.